Revelio
by KeepCalmAndExpectoPatronum
Summary: The Yule Ball is fast approaching and all anyone can talk about is finding a date. Draco, Greg and Vince (albeit reluctantly) join the search, with surprising results.
1. Chapter 1

_Originally written for the Pen15 is Mightier's Writing Competition (March 2018)._

 _Golden Quill Winner - Best Story_

 _Thank you to my beta BrandonStrayne for all of your help. You're a star._

* * *

"As you well know, The Yule Ball is approaching," Snape began. "A traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament is the opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. The Ball will be open only to fourth-years and above, although you are permitted to invite a younger student if you wish to."

Snape slowly swept up and down the large classroom, observing his Slytherin students with a look of mild disdain. The girls looked at each other excitedly while the boys shuffled uncomfortably, avoiding the gazes of expectant suitors. Snape continued, "Dress robes will be worn, and the ball will begin at eight o' clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Let me be clear – if I catch anyone from Slytherin House out of bed past that time, you will rue the day you defied me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor," chorused the students in unison.

Snape grimaced as he explained, "The Yule Ball is, first and foremost, a dance."

An excited murmur spread out amongst the girls but quickly died down as Snape drew them a sharp look. He shook his head and continued, "As much as this pains me, I am required to teach you to dance. The reputation of Slytherin House is reliant on you not making fools of yourselves. For some of you that will be more difficult than others. But I shall endeavour to have you dancing to a competent level so as not to bring shame onto your House and myself. This is easily achievable so long as you listen carefully and follow my instructions. Let us begin."

He stopped by a large gramophone, tapped his wand against it sharply, and tinny ballroom music began to play. He swiftly turned on his heel to face the classroom full of students again.

"I require a volunteer for the demonstration," he said sharply. A few girls shot their hands up in the air straight away, jostling one another to be seen. Snape scanned the crowd carefully before inclining his head, "Greengrass. Come here."

The other girls lowered their hands in disappointment and glared as Daphne Greengrass strode towards the Potions Master, positively beaming. Draco snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't get my hopes up, Greengrass," he muttered to Greg and Vince. "I think Snape would sooner go to the Ball on his own than invite her with him."

Greg frowned, "I thought you said you wanted to ask Daphne to the Ball?"

"No," he protested a little too forcefully. "Why would I want to ask her? She's positively foul."

Greg shook his head in confusion, "But you said that she was the only one worth asking because she was hot and funny—"

Draco elbowed Greg in the ribs and he fell silent. His pale cheeked were tinged pink and he hissed, "Keep your voice down, you idiot!"

"Sorry," mumbled Greg, massaging his ribs.

"Did you ask her out already?" asked Vince.

Draco huffed and crossed his arms. Vince's eyes widened, "She turned you down?"

Draco said nothing. Vince grunted, "Tough luck, mate."

"Yes well, there are plenty others to choose from," he waved his hand dismissively. "But you two better hurry up and get dates for the Ball. All the good ones will be snapped up in no time."

Greg felt his stomach twist unpleasantly at the thought. Asking a girl to the Ball? He could barely maintain eye contact with a girl, let alone speak full sentences to her and then be expected to dance with her. Vince's face was now set in a deep scowl. He looked about as keen as Greg felt at the prospect of finding a date.

"Everyone find a partner," Snape ordered. "And follow mine and Ms. Greengrass' lead."

Everybody quickly paired off while Greg and Vince lingered at the back, neither willing to approach any of the girls. Draco strode confidently towards Pansy Parkinson and held out his hand, "Parkinson. Partner with me."

Pansy Parkinson smirked, "Only if you ask me properly, Draco."

Draco frowned a little then asked stiffly, "Parkinson, will you partner with me?" then added more quietly, "Please."

Pansy grinned broadly and took Draco's hand into her own and pulled him into the centre of the classroom.

"Maybe if we don't get partners we won't have to dance," said Greg hopefully.

"That's what I'm hoping," muttered Vince.

No such luck. When everyone had found partners, Vince and Greg were the only two left without dance partners. Snape looked between the two boys, "Crabbe. Goyle. Partner with each other."

Greg and Vince gaped at their Head of House.

"Are you serious?" asked Vince indignantly. Snape's eyes narrowed and the boys shrunk under his incessant glare.

"I am always serious," he hissed. "Pair up now, or you will both have detention."

Both boys grumbled but complied with the request, turning to face one another looking uncertain.

"Here, you be the girl," said Vince roughly, his neck flushing red. Greg scowled.

"How come I have to be the girl?"

"Because you're shorter than me," he reasoned.

Greg pulled a face, "What's that got to do with anything?"

Vince growled, "Girls are smaller than boys. You're smaller than me, so you're the girl."

Greg muttered under his breath in annoyance, unable to think of a suitable counterargument. "Fine," he grumbled, taking Vince's hand roughly into his own. "But next time I'm the guy."

"No way," Vince protested.

Greg opened his mouth to argue but Snape began to dictate the dance moves to the class, holding a very flushed-looking Daphne close as he explained and demonstrated each movement in turn. There was a lot of shuffling of feet and the occasional yelp as toes were trodden on, each student trying to follow Snape's instruction and avoid tripping over their own feet. Greg and Vince tried to mimic the other's dance moves, but to little success, their knees knocking together several times and their bodies bumping against each other as they struggled to keep pace with everyone else. Every time a part of their body touched, Vince would grunt and squeeze Greg's hand tightly, so much so that it hurt. Greg glared at him, but Vince avoided his gaze, staring fixedly at his own feet.

"Stop trying to crush my hand," complained Greg, squeezing back with just as much force.

"I'm not," muttered Vince, the red flush on his neck spreading to his cheeks. "I've just got a firm grip. You can't handle it because you're the girl."

"Am not!" hissed Greg pushing his face closer to Vince's. Vince's eyes widened and he pushed Greg away from him. Greg stumbled back a little, gaping back at Vince in shock. What was that about? Anger and confusion rising up in him, he pushed Vince back with even greater force, then immediately regretted it as he watched his friend trip over his feet and crash into the back of Draco and Pansy. He only managed to stop himself from toppling over entirely by grabbing hold of the back of Draco's robes.

"Oi, watch it!" Draco shouted as the neck of his robes strangled him. Vince straightened himself up and snarled at Greg before lunging for him. The next moment they were pulling and shoving one another as the other students jeered and shouted words of encouragement, keen to see the fight escalate. They were rolling about the floor before they felt themselves be pulled apart by an invisible force, each of them cast to opposite sides of the classroom and landing in a heap on the ground. Snape stood in the middle of the classroom eyeing them both with disappointment.

"Detention," he declared.


	2. Chapter 2

While Greg and Vince had had their disagreements in the past, they had never physically fought like that before. The experience had left Greg feeling rattled, uncertain how something as simple as a dance had escalated into a punch-up.

Detention had been largely uneventful – Snape had instructed them to clean dirty cauldrons by hand and they were only free to leave when they had finished their gruelling task. It had been both a boring and an uncomfortable evening, neither friend willing to talk to one another as they cleaned in silence. Even during the walk back to the Slytherin dungeons neither one spoke, avoiding looking each other in the eye. It was past midnight by the time they slipped into the boy's dormitory and everyone else was already asleep.

Good, thought Greg. He was in no mood to be quizzed by Draco or the others as to why he and Vince had fought. He wasn't entirely sure why that had happened himself. Both boys stripped and slipped into their beds, the gentle snores of the other boys the only sound punctuating the heavy silence.

Greg sighed and stared at the closed curtains of Vince's bed. He could barely make it out in the dark, but he could tell by his breathing that Vince wasn't sleeping either.

"You still awake?" Vince whispered.

"Yeah," he replied quietly. There was a pause.

"C'mere," asked Vince roughly. Greg quickly and quietly slipped out from under the covers of his own bed and peeled back the curtains of Vince's bedside and slipped inside. The curtains drew closed behind him and he slid under the warm covers next to his best friend. This wasn't the first time they'd done this; they had spent many a night staying up into the wee hours of the morning talking.

Unfortunately, over the years their beds had not grown in size with them, so they were forced to press against one another in order to share what little space there was on the small bed. Not that it bothered Greg, he liked the feel of Vince's long body pressed against his own. It felt comforting, made him feel secure. Not that he would say that to Vince of course, a comment like that could easily be misconstrued and would likely get him a punch in the face. But he supposed it didn't bother Vince too much either, because he still called Greg over to his bed every few nights.

Vince cast a silencing charm then tossed his wand carelessly onto the quilt, staring up at the velvet drapes of the four-poster bed, looking forlorn. Greg tucked an arm under his head and glanced at Vince. Even in the dim light, the tension was written all over his face and body, his eyebrows knitted into a scowl, his shoulders squared and stiff.

"This is stupid," Vince grumbled.

"Is that your way of saying sorry?" asked Greg.

"Yes," mumbled Vince.

"Okay," he nodded. "I'm sorry too."

Vince gave a small grunt of laughter and Greg felt the tension in his body relax against his own.

"I don't even know why we need to go to this stupid Ball," he complained. "It's a waste of bloody time."

Greg shrugged, "We could always go home for Christmas instead?"

"We can't," frowned Vince. "My parents are going away this Christmas."

"Oh," Greg's shoulders sagged. "Guess we're stuck here then."

Greg knew better than to suggest going home to his parents' house over Christmas, and Vince knew better than to ask. Vince had chosen to spend the previous three Christmases at Hogwarts to keep Greg company, and during the summer holidays Greg stayed at Vince's house – the less time he spent in his father's company, the better.

"It won't be so bad," Greg assured him. "The Christmas feast is usually good."

"It's not the feast I'm worried about," Vince rubbed his face and sighed. "How are we supposed to find dates for this thing?"

Greg said nothing. If he were perfectly honest with himself, he wasn't all that bothered about asking a girl to the Ball. In fact, he was more than happy to spend his evening with Vince instead. At least he could relax and enjoy himself with Vince there instead of spending the whole night being nervous and awkward around some girl he barely knew. He thought it better to keep this to himself than to voice it, in case Vince took it the wrong way. What way had he meant it, exactly?

"Did you have anyone in mind?" asked Vince, interrupting Greg's train of thought.

"What?" he asked confused. Vince rolled his eyes.

"Girls, Greg. Do you have one in mind you're going to ask to the Ball?"

Greg shrugged, "Um, I'm not sure. What about you?"

Vince thought for a moment before answering, "Yurika Haneda is alright. She's got a nice pair of tits."

"Yeah," agreed Greg awkwardly, realising he'd never noticed that about her. "She's alright."

"Well, who are you going to ask?" Vince implored.

"Um…maybe Zoe Accrington. She seems nice," then added for more convincing effect. "And she's got nice tits too."

Vince pulled a face, "She barely has any."

"Well, that's how I like them," said Greg defensively, thinking he didn't know one way or another how he liked them, he was just desperate to end this conversation. "You asking Yurika tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll ask her after breakfast," sighed Vince. "What about you? When are you asking Zoe?"

"Just whenever I see her I guess," replied Greg uncertainly. Desperate to change the subject he asked, "Have you thought about what you want for Christmas this year?"

Vince smiled broadly and rhymed off everything that he'd hoped to get this year, Greg taking a mental note to grab something on the next Hogsmeade visit. They kept chatting for a while until Vince finally dozed off into a deep slumber mid-sentence, recounting the last Quidditch match he and Greg had attended. Greg watched Vince sleep for a while before slipping back into his own bed, his nerves rattling at the thought of the task ahead tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

At breakfast the next morning, Vince, Greg and Draco discussed strategies for asking girls to the Yule Ball. Draco was of the mind that they should just grab the erumpent by the horn and ask them directly, but Greg was less inclined to do so. When they told Draco who they had intended to ask, Draco shook his head, "You're too late Vince, Yurika's already got a date."

Vince's shoulders sagged, "Shit. Who?"

Draco glowered, "Some Ravenclaw pleb. Michael Corner, I think. Have you got a back-up?"

Vince shrugged, "Tracey Davis, maybe?"

Draco nodded, "I think she's still available, although I'd be quick if I were you. Here's your chance now, mate."

Draco nodded to a tall blonde girl who walked passed them in the direction of the Entrance Hall. She was busy rummaging through her school bag and to Vince's relief she was on her own. He got to his feet so abruptly he knocked the Slytherin table back a few inches, causing the contents of several goblets to spill all over the table.

Draco patted him on the arm and urged him on, "Go! Before someone else beats you to it!"

Vince stumbled over his robes to chase after Tracey, his face set in a deep frown of determination. Greg watched him leave the Great Hall with mixed feelings, but he wasn't given much of an opportunity to linger on his inexplicable feelings of apprehension as Draco rounded on him next, "So, Zoe Accrington. When are you going to ask her?"

Greg grimaced, "I dunno. I don't see the point in asking, it's not like she'll say yes."

Draco looked incredulous, "Don't be such a wuss! You've got plenty to offer Greg – you're a big strapping bloke with a respectable name and a decent bit of money behind you, what woman could resist? Besides, what's the worst that could happen? She says no and we just tell everyone that she's riddled with scrofungulus."

Greg snorted into his pumpkin juice and Draco winked at him reassuringly, "If you're nervous about asking her directly, I have an idea of how you can do it more subtly."

Draco's eyes followed Zoe as she and a couple of friends left the Great Hall in the direction of their first class of the morning. He pulled Greg by the sleeve and dragged him along, whispering furiously his ingenious plan to secure him a date. They paused as they saw Zoe come to a stop outside of McGonagall's Transfiguration class, both boys lingering near the end of the corridor careful not to be seen. They were already late for Snape's Potions class, but Draco wasn't worried about the ramifications, he knew Snape would give him a pass. Draco pulled out his wand and turned to Greg, "Okay. You start walking passed all casual like, I'll tear her bag open, then you help her pick up her stuff and repeat what I told you to say. Got it?"

"Got it," grunted Greg, nervously flattening his robes.

"Remember to smile," Draco added. Greg grinned so broadly he looked as though he were in pain. Draco grimaced, "On second thoughts, drop the smile."

Greg's smile fell and he frowned. Draco gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, "You're going to nail this mate, and remember I've got your back. Off you go."

Greg let out a shaky sigh and took his first nervous step towards Zoe, his legs suddenly feeling like they were under the effects of a jelly-leg jinx. He was hyperaware of how awkward his arms and legs looked as he walked forward, trying and failing to walk casually and breathe at the same time, but he pushed himself in the direction of the pretty brunette he was going to ask to the Ball. As he approached, Zoe's bag miraculously tore open, spilling its contents all over the floor. She grimaced and bent over to pick up her things from the floor looking embarrassed.

Greg bent over and picked up a couple of her books, "Here, let me help you with that."

Zoe glanced up in surprise at Greg, then smiled broadly.

"Thanks," she breathed, gathering her parchment and make-up. "I don't know what happened there, stupid bag must have burst."

"No wonder with all these books weighing you down," said Greg. "It's Zoe, right? I'm Greg."

Zoe smiled nervously and put her hand out to shake his, "Yeah, you're the year above me I think. Nice to meet you, Greg."

Greg grinned broadly. This was going better than he could have hoped.

"It's nice to meet you too. Say, are going with anyone to the Yule Ball—"

Both of them made to stand up at the same time, but Greg sprung to his feet so quickly he headbutted Zoe in the face with the top of his head. Zoe cried out in pain and dropped her parchment and books, clutching her face as blood pooled from her nose. Greg stared in horror, "Shit! Sorry, I…are you alright?"

He reached out to Zoe but she took a step back from him, blood dripping down her robes. Her classmates turned and stared at him, others rushed forward to check Zoe was alright.

"Greg!" shouted Draco from down the corridor gaping at him. "What the hell!"

Greg looked between Zoe and Draco feeling increasingly panic-stricken, then he turned tail and ran in the opposite direction. He kept running all the way back to the Slytherin dungeons, not stopping until he burst into the boy's dormitory and flopped face down onto his bed, punching his pillows in anger and horror at his own social ineptitude. Merlin, why couldn't he do anything right?

"Greg?" asked a familiar voice. Greg looked up and saw Vince sitting on his bed looking at him curiously. "What are you doing here?"

Greg sank his head into his pillow again and groaned, "I asked Zoe Accrington to the Ball."

"How did it go?" asked Vince tentatively, although by Greg's reaction he could easily guess.

"Not great," he admitted burying his face deeper into the pillow with shame. "I headbutted her."

"What?" Vince bounced onto Greg's bed and shoved him on the shoulder. "What do you mean you headbutted her?"

"Not on purpose," he replied, his voice muffled as he spoke into the pillow. "I was helping her pick up stuff that she'd dropped on the ground, and as I stood up her face kind of crashed into my head...I don't know how it happened. Merlin, there was blood everywhere, it was horrible."

"What did you do?" asked Vince.

"I panicked," groaned Greg. "I ran. I just left her there."

Vince burst out laughing and Greg glared at him, "This isn't funny!"

"It's kind of funny," Vince argued, wiping a tear from his eye. "Christ, I thought my morning had been bad."

"Oh yeah, how did it go with Tracey?" asked Greg. Vince shook his head, looking morose again.

"Shit. She practically laughed in my face, said she couldn't believe that I ever thought I'd agree to go out with her."

Greg's eyes widened in disbelief, "No way. She said that?"

Vince nodded solemnly, "A simple no thank you would've sufficed. She didn't need to rub it in my face."

"At least you didn't bust up her face," said Greg sympathetically. Vince gave a weak laugh and lay back on Greg's bed staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. It felt like she punched me when she said that, though."

"Is that why you came back up here instead of going to Potions?" asked Greg. Vince nodded. He placed a reassuring hand on Vince's forearm, "Mate, she's not even worth sulking over. Just because she's too dumb to see how great you are, it's her loss."

Vince glanced at Greg, "You think so?"

Greg nodded, "I know so."

"Thanks," Vince gave a small smile and rested his hand on top of Greg's. Greg held his breath, watching Vince's hand intently as he began to unconsciously run his thumb across Greg's knuckles. It felt ticklish and warm, and it set off all sorts of alarm bells in his head. He wasn't entirely sure Vince realised what he was doing, but he was afraid that if he said anything that he would stop, and although he didn't know much else, he definitely knew he didn't want him to stop. After a few moments Vince's hand stilled but didn't move away. Greg stole a glance and felt his stomach do a backflip. Vince was looking right at him, his dark eyes fixed intently on his own. Greg licked his lips and his gaze fell to Vince's mouth, slightly open with a look of curiosity on his face.

He has nice lips, the thought rang through Greg's mind loud and clear, although he wasn't entirely sure where that strange thought had come from. Nice eyes, nice lips, and nice hands too, warm and soft to the touch.

Merlin, when had he started noticing these little things about his best friend? Greg was suddenly aware of how close they were to one another, he could feel Vince's hot breath against his face. He was so close their lips could almost touch, if he were just a little bit closer. Greg made a slight movement, letting his lips barely brush against Vince's cheek, but even this slight contact was almost too much for him, his body felt flushed with heat as shivers ran up his back. What was he doing?

Vince lowered his gaze and cleared his throat, "We better get to our next class."

His voice was low and hoarse, and to Greg's relief he didn't sound angry. Greg blinked and sat up quickly, his senses coming back to him in a fresh wave of panic and confusion. What the hell are you doing?

"Yeah, just give me a minute," he hurried into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him. He caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror, his cheeks were flushed and his normally hazel brown eyes were almost black his pupils were so dilated. He closed his eyes and took a few deep, steadying breaths, trying to compose himself before facing Vince again. A storm of conflicting emotions were brewing inside of him – he couldn't stop looking at Vince, couldn't stop thinking about him in ways he'd never consciously thought of him before. But he didn't want to think about what his feelings meant, they were scary to touch — even in the private recesses of his mind it felt like an exposed nerve that if he lingered upon, grazed it with any tangible thought, it would become too overwhelming for him to handle.

He took the frightening, exciting thoughts and feelings, mentally bunched them up into a little ball and pushed them into a box in the back of his mind. Feeling more composed now he stepped back into the bedroom and paused. Vince had left without him.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days were the worst that Greg had ever had at Hogwarts. Worse than having Vince angry at him was to have him ignoring him completely. Draco sat between them both, chatting away, oblivious that anything was amiss, while Vince only directed his responses towards Draco and avoided looking at Greg entirely. Matters were only made worse by the fact that Draco and Pansy appeared to be something of an item now, so Greg had to contend with her constantly chattering in his ear into the bargain. Normally Greg and Vince would just stalk off and leave Draco with his latest belle in peace, but Vince didn't want to spend any time alone with Greg. Instead they suffered in silence.

"There's only a week left before the Yule Ball," warned Draco, his arm carelessly draped over Pansy's shoulders as they ate their dinner in the Great Hall one evening. "You're going to be hard pressed to get any date at this rate, let alone a decent one."

"I don't really give a shit about this stupid Ball," snapped Vince, glaring at his dinner. "Can you just drop it already?"

"Ooh, testy!" teased Pansy. "Who's put a bee in your bonnet?"

"Sounds like they've shoved it up his arse, more like," muttered Draco, drawing a displeased sideways glance at Vince. Vince dropped his fork and abruptly left the table, his shoulders hunched and head bowed. Draco, Pansy and Greg all stared after him gaping.

"What's got into him?" asked Draco. Pansy shrugged.

"He's just jealous because you've got the hottest date to the Yule Ball and he'll be on his lonesome. Anyway, what about you Greg? Have you had any luck in finding a date?"

"No," he replied shortly, shovelling another mouthful of cottage pie in his mouth, hoping that would end the conversation. Unfortunately Pansy was rather persistent.

"Not to worry, Pansy's on the case. I'm sure we can find someone for you. Maybe not Vincent though, he's so crabbit I fear he's a lost cause," she gave a dramatic sigh and shook her head.

True to her word, Pansy pranced into the boy's dormitory later that evening looking smug.

"Good news boys!" she declared, flopping down onto Draco's bed, sending his homework fluttering onto the floor. He rolled his eyes and nudged her out of the way. She rolled onto her stomach and smirked at Greg and Vince who sat on their own beds pouring over their own homework, "I may have just secured you both a date to the Ball!"

Vince's eyes widened and he tossed his Charms book aside, "Really? With who?"

"The Carrow twins." Greg and Vince stared blankly. Pansy rolled her eyes. "Flora and Hestia Carrow. They're the year below us. Long brown hair, pale, bit gaunt looking. They don't say much but they're the smartest in their year."

Vince huffed and his shoulders sagged, "They're going to love us, aren't they?"

Greg glared at Vince, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What the hell are we going to talk to them about?" asked Vince, motioning to the homework spread out over his bed. "I can barely keep up with Remedial Charms, how am I supposed to sit all night with the Genius Twins and keep them entertained?"

"I don't think they'll be too bothered about your book smarts lads," interjected Pansy. "They're just happy to be invited. They're only in third year so they wouldn't be able to go otherwise."

"Oh, so it's like that is it?" huffed Vince. "They're only agreeing to go with me and Greg so they can get a free dinner and a show."

Pansy shrugged, "Pretty much, yeah. I don't see what the problem is, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement – you both get dates for the Ball, they get to attend. It's a win-win for everyone involved."

"Not for me it's not!" argued Vince.

"Then what the hell do you want, Vince?" asked Pansy sharply, all trace of sweetness gone from her voice.

Vince rose to his feet, "I want to go with someone who wants to go with me! Not just as a meal ticket. I don't think that's too much to ask!"

"I think unfortunately in this case it is," said Pansy without a trace of sympathy. "Let's be clear – you might want somebody who wants to go with you, but the hard truth is nobody wants to go with you, Vincent. So either you go with the Carrow twins, or you don't go with anyone. It's up to you."

"Fuck you," he hissed and stormed out of the dormitory. Greg instinctively rose to his feet and chased after him, slamming the door behind him. Draco rounded on Pansy.

"Was that really necessary?" he spat throwing his quill down onto bed.

"I only spoke the truth. It's not my problem he can't handle hearing it," she sniffed, then she smirked. "Well, since we're all alone now…"

Draco gave a dramatic sigh and pulled Pansy on top of him. She might be a nasty piece of work, but damnit if she wasn't a good kisser.

"Vince," called Greg, chasing after him down another corridor. "Vince, wait up!"

"Leave me alone," he shouted over his shoulder, striding around a corner and disappearing out of sight. As Greg rounded the corner he paused. Vince had vanished.

"Vince?" he called again, walking slowly down the corridor then paused when he heard the strum of a lyre. He turned towards a large tapestry of Achilles and Patroclus sitting together on a grassy knoll, watching Greg with interest. Achilles smiled and strummed the lyre again as Greg approached them.

"Is he…" Greg pointed at the tapestry and both men gave a small nod. "Thank you."

Greg pulled the tapestry back to reveal a hidden corridor and saw Vince's feet sticking out of a stone alcove. Greg approached him slowly and felt his heart sink at the look on Vince's face. His face was set in its usual deep scowl, but his eyes were puffy and red. He stared fixedly at the floor and said nothing. Greg sighed and sat down next to Vince in the alcove, neither speaking for a while.

"You know Pansy just says shit because it gets a rise out of you," he said eventually.

"Well Greg, the most cutting remarks tend to be the ones with some truth to them," said Vince bitterly. "And this one cut pretty deep."

"She's wrong you know," said Greg.

"About what?" asked Vince. "About how stupid I am or that nobody likes me? I was already well aware of both those facts, but she didn't need to throw it in my face like that."

"You're not stupid," Greg argued. "Not to me anyway. And she was wrong about nobody wanting to go with you."

Vince huffed, "We've already clarified that nobody wants to go with me. Not that I care, it's going to be stupid anyway."

"I do," said Greg quietly. Vince stared.

"What?" Vince spoke in barely a whisper. Greg shrugged.

"I would go with you. I mean, I want to go…with you."

Vince blinked and swallowed hard, "What are you saying Greg?"

Greg rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I'm not entirely sure, I'm not great with words. But I figure, we're best mates, yeah?"

"Yeah," replied Vince cautiously.

"So why shouldn't we just go together?" asked Greg as casually as possible, although his heart was racing. "We already agreed most of the other girls wouldn't be much fun to hang out with anyway. At least this way we don't need to worry about impressing the other person, or feel like we need to dance, and we don't need to buy those stupid bloody corsages everyone's been going on about. We can just go and enjoy ourselves. As mates."

Vince studied Greg closely for a moment before nodding slowly, "Yeah. Go together. As mates."

Greg smiled, "Cool, I'll pick you up at seven-thirty."

Vince rolled his eyes and laughed, "If anyone's doing the picking up it'll be me – you're the girl, remember?"

"Fuck off," muttered Greg and Vince laughed. Relief swept through Greg as the two friends walked back to the Slytherin dungeon. It had been hellish not having Vince by his side these last few days. Now they seemed to have put their little 'moment' behind them and resumed their friendship as normal.

It was just a moment, Greg told himself. A very strange, fleeting, incredibly intense moment that you can't stop thinking about.

He smiled and nodded along as Vince chatted away animatedly to him, trying and failing to suppress the feeling of butterflies in his stomach every time he looked at his best friend.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is that...?"

"It can't be."

"With _Krum_?"

Everyone gasped as Hermione Granger swept onto the dance floor with Viktor Krum on her arm, looking resplendent in robes of periwinkle blue, smiling serenely. Draco gaped at her open- mouthed, unable to conjure any of his usual retorts or insults at the girl. Pansy scowled and elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Close your mouth you idiot!" she hissed. "You look like a buffoon!"

Draco quickly shut his mouth but his eyes still followed Hermione everywhere she moved across the dance floor. Greg, however, took no notice. He stood with Vince at the back of the expectant crowd, deep in conversation about their favourite Quidditch teams' infamous rivalry.

"Gregory Cotton is going to kick your arse this season," promised Vince. "The Wasps have no chance with him on the team."

"Bullshit," laughed Greg. "Granted, Cotton's good. But the rest of the team is a shambles. This is the Arrows' year, I'm telling you."

"I'll be impressed if they manage to beat the Cannons," teased Vince. Greg punched his arm.

"You take that back!"

"Make me!" grinned Vince and the two proceeded to scuffle and laugh in silence, although nobody took notice as all eyes were upon the Triwizard Champions dancing in the centre of the Great Hall.

"Get a room you two," drawled Draco and Pansy sniggered. Greg and Vince quickly stepped away from each other, blushing. Draco sighed, "This isn't much of a party now, is it? Not like the ones my father hosts at the Manor. They're much more impressive than this quaint gathering."

"What we need to do is spice things up a bit," winked Pansy. Draco smirked.

"What we _need_ is a proper drink to liven things up a bit, wouldn't you agree?" he gave a mischievous grin and pulled a small silver hip flask from the inside of his robes, "Firewhisky anyone?"

"I'll be taking that, thank Mr. Malfoy," came a silky voice. Draco winced as Professor Snape appeared over his shoulder and snatched the flask from his grasp. He gave Draco a bemused look, "Any more shenanigans like this and I will be forced to deduct House points. Carry on."

Snape tucked the flask into his robes and swept across the dance floor towards Professor Dumbledore. Pansy patted Draco's arm sympathetically, "Tough luck, Draco."

Draco smirked and shook his head, "Not to worry, I knew he'd be on the look-out for alcohol, thought it was better to humour him. Thankfully that one was a decoy."

He pulled a second, identical hip flask from his robes and proceeded to top up their goblets with a dram of Firewhisky. The rest of the evening went better than Greg could have hoped – the food was great, he didn't have to worry about showcasing his terrible dancing because neither he nor Vince liked to dance anyway, instead spending the evening chatting and laughing amongst themselves and with Draco. Even Pansy was being more amicable, although that may have just been the effects of the Firewhisky. Then when the Weird Sisters entered the stage, everyone screamed and rushed forward. Vince instinctively grabbed Greg by the hand and dragged him to his feet.

"Come on, we've got to see this!" he yelled, grinning broadly. Greg smiled back sheepishly, weaving through the throngs of students to get as close to the stage as possible, never wanting to relinquish his hold on Vince's hand. When they got as close to the stage as they could, they spent the rest of the evening singing, jumping and laughing together, Greg all too aware each time Vince's arm or waist brushed against his own.

When the Ball came to a close, naturally everyone disregarded the midnight curfew and dispersed amongst the castle's many secret corridors, hosted parties in the common rooms and disappeared into the castle grounds with their partners and friends to continue their evening. Greg and Vince had a few more drinks at the after- party in the Slytherin common room, and when Vince said he was getting tired, Greg followed him upstairs to the boy's dormitory.

Not surprisingly, they were the first two to go into the dormitory – Blaise and Theo were Merlin- knows -where with their dates, and they had gladly left Draco and Pansy wrapped up in each other's arms in a far corner of the common room. Greg smiled as he listened to Vince chatting animatedly, stripping out of his heavy dress robes, strutting about the room barefooted and with his shirt untucked, still buzzing from the night's events. It wasn't very often he saw Vince like this – totally at ease, smiling and happy. He was so serious most of the time, Greg hadn't noticed before how much Vince's smile seemed to light up his entire face. A dangerous combination of Firewhisky, good food and good music had Greg flying high on feelings of elation he rarely felt. Throw Vince into the mix, it was intoxicating. Vince paused in front of Greg with a contented expression on his face.

"I had a really great night Greg," he said quietly. "Thanks for coming with me. You're right, it wouldn't have been as much fun with anyone else."

Vince had taken a step closer to Greg and he was all too aware of just how close they were now. Vince, a few inches taller, seemed to loom over him, but his expression wasn't threatening, it was…nervous. Expectant. Vince reached out and brushed his hand against Greg's elbow and something seemed to snap inside of him - it was impossible for Greg to ignore his feelings any longer, so overwhelming in their strength he thought surely he would drown if he didn't say or do something about it. He stared at Vince's lips for a moment, then throwing caution to the wind he leaned forward and kissed him. It was a moment before Vince's brain caught up with what was happening, and even then he wasn't sure how to respond. He stood rooted to the spot, unresponsive, his lips stiff against Greg's surprisingly soft ones pressed against his own, but he wasn't pushing him away either. All of his focus was on the rough stubble of Greg's chin brushing against his own, and the warmth of his breath against his lips.

When Greg's lips finally pulled away, Vince felt like the air had been sucked from his lungs. He touched his lips, still tingling and damp, uncertain of what he should say or do. Greg took a step back and bowed his head to avoid Vince's gaze, his cheeks flushed scarlet. He could tell from Vince's unresponsiveness that it had been the wrong thing to do, but he was surprised he hadn't been punched in the face yet. It would surely come any second after Vince's brain finally processed what Greg had just done.

Greg jerked a little in fright as he felt Vince's hand slide around the back of his neck, pulling him closer. His heart was hammering so hard in his chest now he was sure that Vince could hear it. The only other sound in the room was their shaky breaths. He closed his eyes, still half-anticipating the first strike, then gasped when he felt Vince's tongue sweep tentatively across his lips. Without thinking he opened his mouth and deepened the kiss, taking a step closer so that their chests pressed against one another, he could feel Vince's heart was pounding just as hard as his own.

Greg had heard a lot about kissing girls from the other boys – if Draco wasn't complaining about Potter he was talking about the many merits of 'getting off with fit birds'. Despite Draco's high praises, Greg hadn't thought it sounded particularly pleasant – he'd pulled a face at the thought of someone else's saliva in his mouth, balked at the idea of what he thought would be too much tongue and teeth. But this wasn't unpleasant at all. In fact it felt rather nice. Vince's kiss felt soft and warm, his tongue like hot velvet pressing against his own.

Greg slowly wrapped his arms around Vince's waist, still afraid that Vince would realise what the hell he was doing and jump away from him at any moment, but as he rested his hands at the bottom of his back and pulled him a little closer Vince sighed contentedly, his hot breath tickling Greg's lips. The sound made Greg shiver with excitement, he felt lightheaded with nervousness and excitation, his whole body hardwired to every little movement and noise Vince was making. Vince had one hand placed firmly against Greg's hip and the other tentatively playing with the hair on the back of his neck, the caress of his fingers sending little jolts of electricity across his flush skin. Greg lowered his hands a little towards Vince's arse and Vince groaned with approval—

CLICK.

The dormitory door creaked open and Pansy Parkinson's voice spilled through from the corridor into the bedroom. Draco popped his head through the door and surveyed the room to see if it was free and froze when his eyes fell upon his friends. He had stopped so abruptly that Pansy had crashed into Draco's back and grumbled, "Oi! What's the hold-up? Are you going to show me a good time or not?"

Vince and Greg quickly broke their kiss and jumped away from each other, but it was too late. Draco stared at them both with an unreadable expression. A long, fragile silence followed as the three friends stared at each other; Greg looking increasingly panicked, Vince angry and Draco with a calculating expression. Draco pulled out his wand and Vince instinctively reached for his own, but Draco was too quick.

"Accio tie," he shouted, and his school tie flew out of his top drawer and into his outstretched palm. He looked at his friends and shook his head.

"If you want to ensure privacy you need to put this on the door handle!" he gave them an incredulous look then muttered, "Amateurs," before closing the door behind him and securing the tie to the door handle.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but this room is currently occupied," he declared. Pansy's eyes widened.

"Ooh, who's got lucky?"

"You have," said Draco promised, silkily slipping his hand around her waist. "Come on, I know a couple secret passageways we can check out."

Vince let out a long sigh of relief and sank onto the edge of his bed, head in his hands.

"Fucking hell," he muttered. "What are we doing?"

"I don't know," said Greg weakly. "Sorry."

"No," Vince shook his head. "I'm sorry. I…I've been wanting to do that a lot. For a while now. But feeling like this, it scares the shit out of me. I don't know what's going on in my own head at the moment."

The words tumbled out of his mouth as he spoke into his hands, afraid to look at Greg. Greg felt stunned, "You…you've felt like this for a while?"

"I don't know!" cried Vince defensively. "I think so…I'm not sure. Everything in my head just feels jumbled up right now. I don't know what I'm doing."

Greg thought back to Vince's behaviour the past few days – avoiding looking at him and talking to him, the way he had acted during the dance class – Vince's awkwardness suddenly made perfect sense. He wasn't angry at Greg for the way he felt…he felt the same way. Greg wanted to laugh in relief but thought better of it, certain that Vince would definitely punch him if he did that.

Instead he took a tentative step towards Vince, "I don't really know what I'm doing either. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm doing most of the time – I'm crap at all my subjects, I feel awkward talking to anyone apart from you and Draco, and my home life isn't much to shout about either. But…I'm happy, you know? And…I'm happy with you. I know I'm not the smartest person, but I figure anything that makes you happy can't be a bad thing, can it?"

Vince listened carefully, his face set in his familiar frown of concentration. Greg held his breath and waited, afraid to speak any more, to move, even to think. After what seemed like an eternity, Vince raised a hand towards Greg, "C'mere."

Greg approached the bed slowly and unsteadily, his heart pounding painfully in his chest now. Vince grabbed him by the sleeve of his robes and pulled him down to sit next to him on the edge of the bed.

"Do it again," Vince half demanded, half pleaded. Still a little uncertain Greg leaned forward, his lips ghosting Vince's, trying to gauge his reaction. Vince made his feelings clear when this time he closed the distance, closing his eyes and pressing their lips together. Greg felt like he was somersaulting off of the edge of a cliff, every uncertainty and fear melted away as he kissed Vince back harder. Greg didn't know what this was or what it meant, but right there and then he didn't care. Whatever it was, it made him happy. Whatever happened, Vince would be there.


End file.
